System and method for flexible human-machine collaboration

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for enabling human-machine collaborations include a generalizable framework that supports dynamic adaptation and reuse of robotic capability representations and human-machine collaborative behaviors. Specifically, a method of feedback-enabled user-robot collaboration includes obtaining a robot capability that models a robot&#39;s functionality for performing task actions, specializing the robot capability with an information kernel that encapsulates task-related parameters associated with the task actions, and providing an instance of the specialized robot capability as a robot capability element that controls the robot&#39;s functionality based on the task-related parameters. The method also includes obtaining, based on the robot capability element&#39;s user interaction requirements, user interaction capability elements, via which the robot capability element receives user input and provides user feedback, controlling, based on the task-related parameters, the robot&#39;s functionality to perform the task actions in collaboration with the user input; and providing the user feedback including task-related information generated by the robot capability element in association with the task actions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of and claims benefit of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15,424,369, filed Feb. 3, 2017, entitled“System and Method for Flexible Human-Machine Collaboration,” which is acontinuation of and claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/001,003, filed on Jan. 19, 2016, issued as U.S. Pat. No.9,586,315 on Mar. 7, 2017, assigned or under obligation of assignment tothe same entity as this Application, and the contents of which arehereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entireties. U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/001,003 is a continuation of and claimsthe benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/475,184, which wasfiled on Sep. 2, 2014, entitled “System and Method for FlexibleHuman-Machine Collaboration,” issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,272,418 on Mar.1, 2016, assigned or under obligation of assignment to the same entityas this Application, and the content which is hereby expresslyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT STATEMENT

This invention was made with Government support under Grant No.NRI-1227277 awarded by the National Science Foundation. The U.S.Government has certain rights in this invention.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods forenabling human-machine collaborations via a generalizable framework thatsupports dynamic adaptation and reuse of robotic capabilityrepresentations and human-machine collaborative behaviors.

BACKGROUND

Robotic industrial automation has seen significant success inlarge-scale manufacturing because it offers significant advantages atscale for tasks such as welding, cutting, stamping, painting, heavymaterial handling, precision material machining, etc. The success ofrobotic automation in large-scale manufacturing has led to along-standing desire to extend the use of robotic automation into smalland medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (“SMEs”). However, incontrast to large scale manufacturing, SMEs' production processes aretypically characterized by small production volumes and/or high productvariability. Consequently, the ability to amortize the infrastructure,specialized personnel, setup, and programming of flexible roboticautomation is far reduced for SMEs.

SME processes sometimes include tasks that require a high level ofcustomization and therefore necessarily involve human skill andjudgment. For example, refurbishment tasks and build-to-ordermanufacturing processes must accommodate unforeseen workpiece variancesand equipment modifications. In such cases, an existing human-centeredproduction process may find it difficult to determine where or howrobotic automation can be a useful addition to an effectivehuman-intensive process, rather than a duplication or attenuationthereof. Take, for instance, an SME specializing in custom furnituremanufacturing that has a number of highly-skilled employees. That SMEmay want to improve the efficiency and productivity of its employees byusing robotic systems to automate repetitive tasks that involvedexterous actions, such as drilling or sanding tasks. However, acommercial off-the-shelf robotic system would not be useful in this casebecause it would be impossible for the SME to leverage its employees'existing task knowledge and experience.

There is therefore a need for systems and methods for overcoming theseand other problems presented by the prior art.

SUMMARY

Many task domains have yet to take advantage of automated roboticsystems because of a lack of suitable collaborative systems that provideflexible and efficient interaction with such robotic systems. Examplesof such task domains include SME processes, in-home assistance forphysically disabled individuals, collaborative robotic surgery, etc. Inthese task domains, either performing a task manually or completelyautomating a task is neither desirable nor practical. Therefore, a needexists for collaborative robotic systems and methods that provideflexible and efficient user-robot interactions and are effective acrossa wide range of tasks with varying duration, complexity, and constraintson user interaction.

An exemplary collaborative robotic system according to variousembodiments can be instructed or trained in a generalizable way toperform a wide range of tasks and be able to switch between tasksgracefully without retraining. The collaborative robotic system supportshuman-robot collaborative operations for ranges of user roles and robotcapabilities, and models human-robot systems via sets of robotcapabilities and collaborative behaviors that relate the robotcapabilities to specific user interaction capabilities, which are userinterfaces or interaction paradigms. A robot capability can becomposited with other robot capabilities and specialized for specifictasks. To perform tasks, the collaborative robotic system candynamically adapt robot capabilities using various task-relatedinformation or parameters, such as tool affordances or tool behaviorconstraints, tool movement primitives, and perceptual groundingtemplates. For a specific task and robot capability, the collaborativerobotic system must determine one or more user interaction modalitiesrequired by the robot capability to accomplish the task, subject to theconstraints of available interfaces. Therefore, a collaborativebehavior, which includes a composition of one or more robot capabilitiesand one or more user interaction capabilities, must map the userinteraction capabilities to the robot capabilities to meet the robotcapabilities' requirements for user interaction.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods forenabling human-machine collaborations via a generalizable framework thatsupports dynamic adaptation and reuse of robotic capabilityrepresentations and human-machine collaborative behaviors. Specifically,a computer-implemented method of feedback-enabled user-robotcollaboration includes obtaining a robot capability that models arobot's functionality for performing task actions; specializing therobot capability with an information kernel that encapsulates a set oftask-related parameters associated with the task actions to provide aspecialized robot capability; providing an instance of the specializedrobot capability as a robot capability element that controls the robot'sfunctionality based on the set of task-related parameters; obtaining,based on user interaction requirements of the robot capability element,user interaction capability elements, via which the robot capabilityelement receives user input and provides user feedback; controlling,based on the set of task-related parameters, the robot's functionalityto perform the task actions in collaboration with the user input; andproviding the user feedback including task-related information generatedby the robot capability element in association with the task actions.

Additional objects and advantages of the embodiments of the disclosurewill be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in partwill be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice ofthe embodiments. The objects and advantages of the embodiments will berealized and attained by means of the elements and combinationsparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are riot restrictive of the embodiments, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is diagram illustrating examples of various types of toolbehavior constraint associated with various types of tool, consistentwith embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1B shows an immersive virtual reality environment in which a usercan interact with an avatar of the robot to specify motion trajectories,consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a collaborative behavior that includesa composition of capabilities connected to the user and the robot.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate exemplary embodiments of a human-machinecollaborative system consistent with the principles of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a behavior manifest that specifiesbehavior components required by a collaborative behavior, consistentwith the principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of user interfaces provided by thehuman-machine collaborative system, consistent with the principles ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method for enablinghuman-machine collaborations via a generalizable framework that supportsdynamic adaptation and reuse of robotic capability representations andhuman-machine collaborative behaviors, consistent with embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flow diagrams illustrating example methods forproviding various types of capabilities and links for implementinghuman-machine collaborative behaviors, consistent with embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method for composinghuman-machine collaborative behaviors, consistent with embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is an example computer system for performing the disclosedembodiments, consistent with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to example embodiments, which areillustrated in the accompanying drawings. When appropriate, the samereference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the sameor like parts.

For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the principles of the presentdisclosure are described by referring mainly to exemplary embodimentsthereof. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would readilyrecognize that the same principles are equally applicable to, and can beimplemented in, all types of information and systems, and that any suchvariations do not depart from the true spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. Moreover, in the following detailed description, referencesare made to the accompanying figures, which illustrate specificexemplary embodiments. Electrical, mechanical, logical and structuralchanges may be made to the exemplary embodiments without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The following detaileddescription is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense and thescope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims andtheir equivalents.

The increasing prevalence of human-safe industrial robots is spurringinterest in collaborative robotic systems, with which human users androbots interact around a set of semi-structured tasks, for SMEs andother emerging task domains such as aid for the elderly or impaired andcollaborative surgical robotics. The range of tasks being performed inthese task domains can change quickly, so a need exists for thecollaborative robotic systems to gracefully adapt across tasks withoutrequiring complete reprogramming.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure include systems andmethods for enabling human-machine collaborations via a framework thatsupports a broad family of collaboration design and use patterns. Anexemplary human-machine collaborative system according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure implements a generalizableframework that supports the composition, dynamic adaptation, andmanagement of reusable robot capability representations, to enable atleast one specific mode of operation, training, troubleshooting, orre-tasking of one or more robots by one or more human users. Dynamicadaptation of robotic capability representations includes generalizinginformation and parameters captured by the collaborative system abouttools, workpieces, and/or a robot's work environment, which thecollaborative system can store in general robot capabilityrepresentations and reuse for various types of task actions. Types oftask action can include, for example, motion constraint, motion instantreplay, trajectory generation, and the like. Dynamic adaptation ofrobotic capability representations also includes specializing generalrobot capability representations to perform specific task actions. Thegeneralizable framework supports the composition, reuse, and managementof human-machine collaborative behaviors, which include compositions ofcapability representations, e.g., robot capabilities and userinteraction capabilities, and mappings between the capabilityrepresentations. By implementing the generalizable framework, thecollaborative system can be instructed or trained in a generalizable wayto perform a wide range of tasks and task actions, and can switchbetween tasks gracefully without retraining or complete reprogramming.

In the present disclosure, the word “robot” will be used instead ofrobotic manipulator or set of robotic manipulators. Typically, a robotis an industrial robotic manipulator or a set of industrial roboticmanipulators for automated or semi-automated production applications. Arobot's envelope space is the range of motion over which the robot canphysically move or reach, which includes a set of points in space thatcan be reached by the robot's end-effector, which can be a tool effectorattached to the robot or a tool grasped or held by a gripper-typeend-effector attached to the robot. For example, the robot's envelopespace can include the range of motion over which a tool effector point(“TEP”) of the robot can physically move or reach. The robot's TEP canbe defined as a reference point in a point cloud of the tool effectorattached to the robot (e.g., a user-selected point, the tool effector'sendpoint, its point of attachment to the robot, etc.) or the toolgrasped by the robot's end-effector a user-selected point, the tool'sendpoint, the point at which the end-effector grasps the tool, etc.).The size and shape of the robot's envelope space depend on thecoordinate geometry of the robot and are influenced by the robot'sdesign, such as the robot's configuration (e.g., types of joints, thejoints' range of movement, lengths of links connecting the joints,etc.), number of degrees of freedom (“DOF”), and the like. In someembodiments, the size and shape of the robot's envelope space can alsobe influenced by the size and shape of the tool effector attached to therobot or the tool grasped by the robot's end-effector. The robot canperform work within its maximum workspace, which generally contains allor almost all of the points in the robot's envelope space. Thecollaborative system can constrain the robot's workspace to a subset ofthe points in the robot's maximum workspace to enforce or apply one ormore constraints, which is described in greater detail below.

Through the generalizable framework, the collaborative system caninteract with at least one human user to capture task knowledge used tocollaboratively perform a task with at least one robot, and then adaptthe captured task knowledge to collaboratively perform other tasks withthe robot and/or at least one other robot, in an efficient and portablemanner. The collaborative system becomes more capable as more taskknowledge is captured, and as the collaborative system becomes morecapable, less information is needed from the user per task. Moreover,the nature of the captured tasked knowledge can progress from low-level(e.g., manual demonstration of dense trajectories) to higher-level(e.g., point-and-click inputs, verbal commands, etc.). As systemcapability increases and the need for detailed user interactiondecreases, the collaborative system can scale down for new applicationsand be gradually introduced into environments that have not classicallyincorporated automation due to a lack of environmental structure ormodeling.

In various embodiments, the generalizable framework defines and providesmodels for (1) capabilities, which are higher order functions that mapinput information to output information or actions based oninfrequently-changing parameters, and (2) collaborative behaviors, whichare mappings between at least one unknown dimension of a task to atleast one appropriate interface for the human user to work with therobot to complete the task. The generalizable framework can provide fordifferent classes of capabilities, including robot capabilities and userinteraction capabilities. Robot capabilities serve as reusable roboticcapability representations that can be specialized for specific tasks,and a robot capability models at least one functionality of the robot atruntime and can connect to either a user interaction capability or otherrobot capabilities. User interaction capabilities provide one or moreinterface modalities to the user by either requiring input commands ordisplaying feedback. Through the use of capabilities and collaborativebehaviors provided by the generalizable framework, the collaborativesystem provides an environmental structure for flexible human-robotcollaborations that can account for the dynamic nature of collaborativeinteractions.

The collaborative system can create a general robot capability bycapturing and generalizing information from one situation, and thenspecialize the general robot capability for different and even novelsituations by instantiating and parameterizing the general robotcapability with one or more situation-specific parameters. A generalrobot capability models at least one functionality of the robot forusing an attached tool of a tool type to perform a type of task actionthat requires a set of task-related parameters. In various embodiments,the collaborative system can dynamically adapt robot capabilities fortask actions of various types based on three types of task-relatedparameters: tool behavior constraints or tool affordances, tool movementprimitives, and perceptual templates.

A tool behavior constraint for a tool can be determined based on atleast one tool affordance of the tool. A tool affordance is one or morefeatures, properties, attributes, or characteristics of the tool thataffords or enables an entity (e.g., a robot, a person, another tool, andthe like) to perform one or more actions with the tool. Thecollaborative system can capture information via motion demonstrations,parameters about tools and workpieces, and parameters which relate oneor more task actions to the robot's work environment. The capturedinformation can be encapsulated and generalized and then stored in areusable robot capability representation For instance, certain drillparameters are valid for more than one type of drill bit or workpiece,and motion demonstrations can define archetypal motions that can bemodulated for a specific situation, such as linear drilling motionsparallel to a longitudinal axis of an attached drill bit.

The collaborative system can create a collaborative behavior bycomposing one or more robot capabilities for performing specific taskactions or task actions of specific types into a composition of robotcapabilities, and mapping one or more user interaction capabilities thatmeet the robot capabilities' requirement for user interaction to therobot capabilities. To provide task- or subtask-specific roboticassistance or augmentation, the collaborative system can modify thecomposition of robot capabilities and/or specialize the robotcapabilities to the specific needs of a given task through end-userdemonstration and/or lightweight parameterization and interaction. Thecollaborative system supports dynamic adaptation of existing robotcapabilities and collaborative behaviors to perform new tasks, thusfacilitating rapid robot training for simple tasks and enabling flexibleinteraction with various tools and workpieces that makes robot trainingfor complex tasks more intuitive. By implementing the generalizableframework, the collaborative system enables simple and intuitive robotprogramming, reprogramming, training, and retraining by users (e.g.,end-users, on-site engineers, and the like), through user interaction,user demonstration, flexible interaction with various tools andworkpieces, and the like.

The collaborative system can offload task knowledge and authority to usethat knowledge, which can be implemented using instances of robotcapabilities in the form of robot capability elements (“RC elements”),onto the robot. The collaborative system can also provide appropriateuser interface (“UI”) elements, which can be implemented using instancesof user interaction capabilities in the form of user interactioncapability elements (“IC elements”), for the user to collaborate with,interact with, and/or give inputs to the robot. The set of capabilityelements (e.g., RC elements and IC elements) necessary for performing atask may vary depending on the complexity of the task, because the taskknowledge, the authority to use that knowledge, and the user inputrequired for performing the task may change with that complexity.

Capabilities

In various embodiments, a capability is defined as a higher orderfunction that maps input information to output information or actionbased on an information kernel, which is defined as one or moreinfrequently-changing parameters. Without loss of generality, suchparameters can be functions that are evaluated at runtime. Thecollaborative system can use a capability to successfully execute one ormore robotic actions in a dynamic and uncertain environment.

More formally, a capability C can be defined as C(κ):γ→ϕ, where κ is theinformation kernel, γ is the set of inputs to the capability, and ϕ isthe set of outputs. If information kernel κ is undefined, thencapability C is considered uninstantiated or general, and thus lacks thenecessary information to operate on inputs γ. The generalizableframework also defines two composition operators: serial composition, ⊙and parallel composition, ⊕. Those skilled in the art will appreciatethat other composition operators are possible without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure. Through the use ofcomposition operators, capability C can be composed of othercapabilities. Thus, capability C can be a composition of othercapabilities and be considered a composite capability. Conversely,capability C can be considered a base capability if capability Cincludes no other capabilities.

The serial composition operator, ⊙, is generally non-commutative andrepresents connecting outputs of one capability into the inputs ofanother capability:C _(A)(κ_(A))⊙C _(B)(κ_(B)):γ_(A)→ϕ_(B)

The parallel composition operator, ⊕, is commutative and represents theunion of two capabilities:C _(A)(κ_(A))⊕C _(B)(κ_(B)):(γ_(A)∪γ_(B))→(ϕ_(A)∪ϕ_(B))

In parallel composition, outputs ϕ_(A) and ϕ_(B) are assumed to bedisjoint without loss of generality because capabilities can be composedwith a decision function that picks conflicting outputs from C_(A) orC_(B). Additionally, both kinds of composition of capabilities requirethe union of information kernels for the composited capabilities.

Capabilities can be classified into user interaction capabilities androbot capabilities. A user interaction capability U∈{hacek over (U)},where {hacek over (U)} is the set of all user interaction capabilitiesavailable to the collaborative system, provides one or more interfacemodalities to the user by either requiring input commands or displayingfeedback.

A robot capability R∈Ř, where Ř is the set of all robot capabilitiesavailable to the collaborative system, models at least one functionalityof the robot at runtime and can connect to one or more user interactioncapabilities and/or one or more other robot capabilities. Examples ofrobot capabilities are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Examples of Robot Capabilities Capability Name Symbol Input γOutput ϕ Instantiated/Specialized By (a) motion R_(mc) pose (SE(3))constrained pose tool behavior constraints constraint (SE(3)) (b) motioninstant R_(ir) start pose joint velocity tool movement primitives replay(SE(3)) commands (“TMPs”) (c) trajectory R_(tg) start and end jointvelocity TMPs, perceptual generator poses (SE(3)) commands templates

Robot capability R can be initially general or uninstantiated, and inthis form is generalizable for a space of tasks and task actions definedby the parameterization of information kernel κ. The collaborativesystem can parameterize robot capability R with information kernel Kκfor a specific situation to form an instantiated robot capability R(κ).The collaborative system can then operate instantiated robot capabilityR(κ) with input γ to produce output ϕ, such as commanding the robot toperform one or more specific task actions.

To perform an example task of precisely drilling holes collaborativelywith the robot enforcing motion constraints, the collaborative systemrequires two capabilities: a user interaction capability that receivespose commands from the user, and a general robot capability. R_(mc) thatmoves the robot subject to constraints imposed by an information kerneldescribing a particular drill. An example of general robot capabilityR_(mc) is shown in Table 1. Given an information kernel κ_(drill)containing common motion constraints necessary for using drills, thecollaborative system can instantiate general robot capability R_(mc) toform an instantiated robot capability R_(mc)(κ_(drill)) for providing adrill motion constraint. In this example, information kernel κ_(drill)encapsulates parameters for mapping a geometric feature of the drill toa Cartesian constraint, and the collaborative system can reuse theseparameters for any tool with the same feature (e.g., other drills).Furthermore, the collaborative system can instantiate general robotcapability R_(mc) constrain not only drills but other tools withoutchanging its interfaces γ and ϕ.

Specializing Capabilities

In various embodiments, the user can use the collaborative system tospecialize capabilities through instructions that define informationkernels based on a set of specified parameters, demonstrations, or otheruser-provided information. An instruction can be defined as a method ofusing a user demonstration or parameterization to create a newinformation kernel or specify parameters of an existing informationkernel. Using the above-described example task of precisely drillingholes, to specialize robot capability R_(mc) for drilling, the user canperform an instruction I_(drill) specifying a mapping from drillgeometry to constraint geometry. The collaborative system canencapsulate this mapping in κ_(drill), and in so doing, specializeR_(mc) to R_(mc)(κ_(drill)).

The collaborative system can specialize capabilities based on variousclasses of information useful for performing various types of taskactions, including (1) tool affordances using tool behavior constraints,(2) motion trajectories using TMPs, and (3) perceptual grounding usingperceptual templates. For example, the collaborative system canspecialize a capability in response to the user performing aninstruction to specialize the capability, with the instructionspecifying (1) a tool behavior control that describes how a tool worksand provides one or more behavior controls on the use of the tool toperform task actions, (2) a TMP that describes one or more motionsinvolved in performing a task action, and/or (3) a perceptual templatethat provides one or more behavior controls in the context of therobot's work environment. Those skilled in the art will appreciate thatother classes of information can be used to specialize a capabilitywithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Tool Behavior Constraints

Tools are typically designed with a certain use case in mind,particularly in the domain of industrial manufacturing, which usuallyinvolves constraints on motions that can be made with the tools toperform tasks. The framework implemented by the collaborative systemformalizes this aspect of tool use as tool behavior constraints. Moreparticularly, a tool behavior constraint associated with a tooldescribes a preconceived notion of how the tool works and provides oneor more behavior controls and/or motion constraints on the use of thetool in performing one or more task actions. The tool behaviorconstraint can be determined based on at least one tool affordance ofthe tool. Tool affordance is defined as one or more features,properties, attributes, or characteristics of the tool that affords orenables an entity to perform one or more actions with the tool. When theuser wants the robot to perform or assist in a task that calls for theuse of the tool or another tool having characteristics and featuressubstantially identical to those of the tool, the user can parameterizeat least one tool behavior constraint associated with the tool to givethe robot a notion of how the tool can be used to perform the task. Theuser can parameterize the tool behavior constraint for the tool byspecifying the geometry of the tool, where the robot grasps or attachesthe tool, etc.

When modeling robot capabilities concerning tools, the collaborativesystem can leverage the fact that each tool or type of tool hasgeometric features that afford useful action and thereby place aconstraint on the motions that can achieve the useful action. Forexample, a drill's cylindrical bit constrains the drill's motion along aline, and when a drill is being used for hole-drilling, an attacheddrill bit defines an axial translation direction; similar constraintsapply to a hole-puncher or a sheet-metal stamper. For another example, asanding or polishing tool generally has a planar operating surface,which constrains the tool's motion to tangential contact along theplanar operating surface. Similarly, various tool behavior constraintsapply to other tool applications, such as a cutting tool, which is oftenrestricted to straight lines or curves.

More formally, a tool t can be represented as a 3-tuple t=<r, A, G>,where r is a representation or model of the three-dimensional (“3-D”)geometry of tool t, A=<a₀, a₁, . . . , a_(n)> is a set of behaviorconstraints, and G=<g₀, g₁, . . . , g_(n)> is a set of graspconfigurations relative to representation r. The collaborative systemcan use tool t to represent a specific tool or any tool in a specificclass of tools that share substantially identical characteristics andfeatures. Assuming a fixed end-effector, g_(i) ∈ SE(3) is a specifictool-relative position. Each behavior constraint is, in turn, a paira=<p, q>, where p ∈ SE(3) is a constraint frame and q is a constrainttype, i.e., q ∈ {axis, curve, angle, plane, . . . }. For tool t, thecollaborative system can generate a constraint frame p based on aconstraint type q by fitting representation r of tool t to constrainttype q. Representation r can model tool t in hole or in part. By mappingthe geometry of tool t in the form of representation r to constrainttype q, the collaborative system can form a reusable information kernelκ_(t) to specialize a robot capability R (e.g., motion constraintcapability R_(mc) as shown in Table 1) into a specialized robotcapability R(κ_(t)). When tool t is attached to the robot, thecollaborative system can operate specialized robot capability R(κ_(t))control the robot. Examples of various types of tool behavior constraintare shown in Table 2 and illustrated in FIG. 1A.

TABLE 2 Examples of Constraint Types Type q Tool Effector Mapping FreeDoF Tool Usage Example axis, parallel frame p at distal point, axialmotion and drilling, punching, x-axis in direction d rotation along axisstamping plane Frame p at center, planar motion y/z-plane, sanding,polishing x-axis in normal direction rotation around x-axis

When the robot grasps or captures a tool, the collaborative system canuse one or more tool behavior constraints associated with the tool todefine one or more constraints that allow tool movement to be resolvedinto constrained DOF and externally controlled DOF, for instance, byusing null-space projection methods. For example, the collaborativesystem can specify a tool behavior constraint associated with the toolby starting with a representation of the tool's geometric features, suchas a 3-D point cloud of the tool. The collaborative system can providethe representation of the tool by having the user select an existingrepresentation, generate a new representation, or select and modify anexisting representation. In various embodiments, the collaborativesystem can also autonomously provide the representation of the tool. Theuser can use the collaborative system to interactively select a regionof the point cloud as the tool origin and then select a constraint type.Based on the selected region and constraint type, the collaborativesystem can determine the tool tip frame and one or more tool behaviorconstraints with respect to the tool origin. The collaborative systemcan map any region of the tool to a tool behavior constraint based onuser selection. The collaborative system can also select any region ofthe tool's point cloud or use the tool origin or tool tip frame as thetool's TEP based on user selection or other considerations.

For example, assuming that a tool is a drill, the collaborative systemcan provide a 3-D representation r₁ of the drill that includes arepresentation r_(bit) of an attached bit and then select “axis” asconstraint type q₁. Thus, when tool t₁ is attached to the robot,representation r₁ or r_(bit) imposes an axial constraint on the robot'smotions while the robot uses tool t₁ to perform drilling tasks. Bymapping the geometry of tool t₁ in the form of representation r₁ and/orthe attached bit in the form of representation r_(bit) to constrainttype q₁, the collaborative system can form a reusable 6 DOF informationkernel κ_(drill) to specialize, for instance, motion constraint robotcapability R_(mc) (as shown in Table 1) into specialized robotcapability R_(mc)(κ_(drill)). The collaborative system can then operatespecialized robot capability R_(mc)(κ_(drill)) to constrain the robot'smotion when using tool t₁.

Tool Movement Primitives

TMPs describe motions that a robot makes with a tool to perform a task;the tool can be a specific tool or any tool in a class of tools thatshare similar or even substantially identical characteristics andfeatures. In various embodiments, the collaborative system can representreusable motions as TMPs in a manner that captures tool-related featuresand parameters while leaving other parameters unconstrained. TMPs canextend Dynamic Movement Primitives (“DMPs”), which provide a foundationfor reusable motion representations that can be re-parameterized whilemaintaining the structure of the motion.

A TMP can encapsulate trajectory data in the context of the tool and oneor more points or other constraints in the robot's workspace and/orenvironment. More formally, a TMP T can be represented as T=<a, d>,where a=<p, q> is a tool behavior constraint associated with the tooland d denotes a demonstrated trajectory. TMP T can be a DMP constructedin one of the tool behavior constraint frames p₁ . . . p_(n), thusallowing the collaborative system to capture the relative orientation oralignment between the tool and the trajectory frame, instead of theorientation of the robot's end-effector with respect to some arbitraryworld frame. In this way, a robot capability (e.g., a motion instantreplay capability R_(ir) or a trajectory generator capability R_(tg) asshown in Table 1) specialized by TMP T can be re-parameterized fordifferent work environments, and the motion can be properly reused forany tool sharing the tool behavior constraint specified in TMP T.

The collaborative system can generate a TMP associated with the tool byfirst acquiring trajectory data via user demonstration, relevant UIs, ora combination thereof, and then generalizing the trajectory data for usein various tasks that involve using the tool. The trajectory datadescribes one or more motions involved in using the tool to performactions for completing the task. The collaborative system can acquirethe trajectory data via user demonstration by entering a learning mode,having the user demonstrate the motions, and perceiving or sensing thedemonstrated motions to capture the trajectory data.

Using a sanding task as an example, the user can demonstrate a spiralsanding trajectory with a sander that progresses out from a startingpoint, in plane with the sander's face. The collaborative system canacquire or capture the shape of the spiral sanding trajectory and thealignment or orientation of the sander with respect to the direction ofthe trajectory. For instance, the collaborative system can capture thatthe sander's face is parallel the direction of the trajectory. Thecollaborative system can also generate a TMP T_(sander) thatencapsulates the spiral sanding trajectory in the context of thestarting point and the alignment or orientation of the sander in thecontext of the direction of the spiral sanding trajectory.

Subsequent to trajectory data acquisition, the collaborative system cangenerate the TMP by generalizing the trajectory data. The collaborativesystem can adapt or re-parameterize the TMP for a new task based on, forexample, a user-specified point and/or a perceptual template associatedwith the new task. In various embodiments, the collaborative system canacquire the TMP by having the user move the robot via admittance controlalong a 6 DOF pose trajectory. The collaborative system can store thepose trajectory as a DMP or a TMP, which can be used generatively tocreate a novel motion given one or more target points in the robot'sworkspace or environment and/or one or more perceptual templates. Thecollaborative system can also store the pose trajectory relative to therobot's initial pose, so that when generating a novel motion, thecollaborative system can constrain the motion to the tool tip frame ofan attached tool and not some arbitrary coordinate system. For toolbehavior constraints and TMPs encapsulated in capabilities, thecollaborative system can save the resulting frame, geometricinformation, trajectory, and other data in at least one lightweightdatabase that is available to other capabilities. Using the example TMPT_(sander) described above, the collaborative system can apply thespiral sanding trajectory correctly, for example in a direction parallelto the sander's face, even if TMP T_(sander) was recorded with a sanderwhose face was mounted at a different angle.

In various embodiments, the collaborative system can enforce one or moreapplicable tool behavior constraints associated with a tool when theuser is demonstrating one or more motions involved in performing a taskwith the tool. More particularly, during a user demonstration, thecollaborative system can enforce or apply the applicable tool behaviorconstraints by constraining the workspace of the robot to a subset ofpoints within the robot's maximum workspace. When the user applies aforce on or near the tool to direct or guide the robot during userdemonstration, the user-applied force can have one or more components inone or more undesirable directions that would cause the robot (e.g., therobot's TEP) to exit its constrained workspace. To address this, thecollaborative system can instruct the robot to stay within or return tothe constrained workspace. The robot can be instructed to stay withinthe constrained workspace by resisting only the components of theuser-applied force in the undesirable directions, resisting theuser-applied force in whole, or the like. The robot can be instructed toreturn to the constrained workspace by providing negative force feedback(e.g., via impedance control, vibration or other forms of hapticfeedback, etc.), moving the robot to a point in the constrainedworkspace and/or reorienting the robot when safe for the user, or thelike. By enforcing the applicable tool behavior constraints associatedwith the tool, the collaborative system allows the user to moreprecisely and effectively demonstrate how to use the tool. Thecollaborative system can enforce the applicable tool behaviorconstraints during motion demonstration, for instance, by forming aninformation kernel κ_(tool) for the tool, specializing motion constraintcapability R_(mc) with information kernel κ_(tool) into a specializedrobot capability R_(mc)(κ_(tool)), providing an instance of specializedrobot capability R_(mc)(κ_(tool)) as an RC element, and operating the RCelement to control the robot in compliance with the applicable toolbehavior constraints.

For example, during a user demonstration of a drilling motion forperforming the above-described drilling task, the collaborative systemcan instruct the robot to allow the user to move the drill only in alinear motion while the drill is activated, which assists the user inmaking a precise single-shot demonstration. The collaborative system cando so by constraining the workspace of the robot to a set of points in astraight line along the longitudinal axis of a drill bit attached to thedrill. While the drill is activated, if the user attempts to direct therobot via user-applied force to deviate from the line along the drillbit's longitudinal axis, the collaborative system can instruct the robotmove only in the direction along the drill bit's longitudinal axis, forinstance, by resisting one or more components of the user-applied forcein one or more undesirable directions (e.g., allowing only the componentof the user-applied force in the direction along the longitudinal axisof the drill bit). Alternatively or in addition, the collaborativesystem can instruct the robot to provide negative feedback via a dampingforce countering the user-applied force, return to the constrainedworkspace when sate for the user, reorient the end-effector so the drillbit returns to the constrained workspace when safe for the user, etc.For another example, during a user demonstration of a sanding motion forperforming the above-described sanding task, the collaborative systemcan instruct the robot to allow the user to move the sander only in amotion tangential to a plane (e.g., planar motion) or a predefinedsurface while the sander is activated.

Perceptual Templates

Perceptual templates support the definition of constrained tool movementby providing one or more behavior controls that are described withrespect to perception data. associated with the robot's workenvironment, such as one or more characteristics of a target workpiecebeing worked on, one or more points in the robot's workspace, and thelike. Thus, a perceptual template provides one or more behavior controlsin the context of the work environment. More formally, a perceptualtemplate P is a pair P=<S, E> that relates a selected scene region S tospecified geometric entities E=[e₁ . . . e_(n)] in the scene. Sceneregion S can be a selected volume of 3-D point cloud or red, green, andblue plus depth (“RGBD”) data, a selected two-dimensional (“2-D”) regionof an image, and the like. A geometric entity e_(i) of geometricentities E is a task relevant geometric feature, such as a point, a lineor curve, a plane or surface, a 3-D space, and the like. Thecollaborative system can use perceptual templates to ground toolbehavior constraints, TMPs, and other task constraints to perceptiondata. While tool behavior constraints and TMPs provide mechanisms forreusing constraint and motion data, perceptual Templates providetask-related parameters that need to be specified to perform taskactions but are not captured by tool behavior constraints or TMPs.

The task-related parameters can be user-specified with respect to therobot's work environment, such as parameters that are specified relativeto the position and/or orientation of the target workpiece.Alternatively or in addition, the collaborative system can obtainperception data descriptive of the robot's work environment and relevantto the task-related parameters provided by the perceptual templates. Thecollaborative system can obtain the perception data from perception ordetection (e.g., via a sensor, a camera, and the like), user interaction(e.g., via an interactive setup, direct user input or selection, and thelike), stored data, or a combination thereof. The collaborative systemcan continually obtain the perception data at a suitable rate (e.g., 1Hz, 5 Hz, etc.) to allow the user to reposition or move the targetworkpiece. Stored data can include data values and informationassociated with one or more reusable task-related parameters, such asdata values associated with a type of workpiece, data values previouslyinputted for performing a similar task on a similar type of workpiece,and the like. The user can also store data and information acquired viaperception and/or user interaction in one or more perceptual templatesassociated with the target workpiece or its type.

In various embodiments, the collaborative system can obtain theperception data while operating a robot capability to perform taskactions. Subsequent to obtaining perception data, the collaborativesystem can specify the task-related parameters based on the perceptiondata to ground any tool behavior constraint and TMP associated with therobot capability and any task constraint. Accordingly, the collaborativesystem can reuse the task-related parameters while performing taskactions without a priori knowledge of the robot's work environment, suchas the target workpiece's position and/or orientation relative to therobot.

For an example task of repeatedly drilling a pattern of holes on a runof parts in a semi-automated fashion, an applicable perceptual templateP_(holes) can include task-related parameters that need to be specifiedto perform the example task, such as a drilling angle relative to aworkpiece surface, a pattern of holes to be drilled relative to one ormore points on the workpiece surface, and the like. The pattern of holescan be represented as lines at an angle relative to the workpiecesurface. While operating a robot capability to perform task actions, thecollaborative system can use perceptual template P_(holes) to obtainperception data, such as a target workpiece surface S_(w), one or morereference points on target workpiece surface S_(w). an orientation oftarget workpiece surface S_(w), etc. For each part in the run of parts,the collaborative system can use perceptual template P_(holes) to (1)obtain relevant perception data descriptive of the part, (2) specifyrelevant task-related parameters based on the perception data, (3)specialize a robot capability R (e.g., trajectory generator capabilityR_(tg) as shown in Table 1) by setting κ=P_(holes) to form a specializedrobot capability R(P_(holes)), (4) provide an instance of specializedrobot capability R(P_(holes)) as an RC element, and (5) use the RCelement to instruct the robot to drill at locations specified by thepattern of holes on the part's target surface S_(w) at the specifiedangle relative to target surface S_(w).

The perception data can be obtained using one or more sensors, from theuser, from stored data, or a combination thereof. For instance, thecollaborative system can first perceive one or more workpiece surfacesand their orientations by obtaining input depth data with a camera anddetecting one or more planar surfaces of the workpiece in the inputdepth data. The collaboration system can then prompt the user to selecta target surface S_(w) from the target workpiece surfaces, one or morereference points on target surface S_(w), and/or a pattern of holes. Thecollaborative system can also load a previously saved pattern of holes.

Instructor for Specializing Capabilities

In various embodiments, the collaborative system provides at least oneinstructor for generating instructions based on a set of specifiedparameters, demonstrations, or other user-provided information. Theinstructor can be used to create new information kernels or specifyparameters of existing information kernels, with which the collaborativesystem can specialize robot capabilities. The collaborative system caninvoke the instructor to obtain different classes of information, suchas tool behavior constraints, motion trajectories in the form of TMPs,perceptual templates, and the like.

To generate an instruction for specifying one or more tool behaviorconstraints, the instructor can provide a representation (e.g., a 3-Dpoint cloud) of a tool selected by the user or based on a tool attachedto the robot. The representation can include at least one tool originpoint. The instructor can select a region in the representation and aconstraint type, either autonomously or based on an interactive userselection. The instructor can then fit the representation of the tool tothe constraint type based on the selected region and constraint type todefine a constraint frame, and thus can generate the tool effector andone or more tool behavior constraints relative to the tool origin point.Any region of the tool can be mapped to a tool behavior constraint basedon user selection. The instructor store the tool behavior constraintsand can generate an instruction for specifying the tool behaviorconstraints in the form of a formatted information kernel, which can beloaded by any capability requiring one or more tool behaviorconstraints, such as motion constraint capability R_(mc) shown in Table1.

To generate an instruction for specifying one or more motiontrajectories for using a specified tool or a tool in a specified classin the form of one or more TMPs, the instructor can provide a userinterface for acquiring the motion trajectories. For example, theinstructor can provide an immersive virtual reality (“VR”) environmentas shown in FIG. 1B. Through the VR environment, the user can interactwith an avatar of the robot to specify motion trajectories. The user canhold a virtual tool proxy, such as a 3-D pointing device, in a positionidentical to how the tool is grasped by the robot, and demonstrate anynumber of 6 DOF motion trajectories. The instructor can record thedemonstrated motion trajectories as one or more DMPs with respect to aselected tool, generate one or more TMPs based on the DMPs and aconstraint frame associated with the tool, and store the TMPs for theselected tool or a tool in the specified class. The instruction forspecifying the TMPs generates a formatted information kernel that can beloaded by any robot capability requiring one or more TMPs, such asmotion instant reply capability R_(ir) or trajectory generatorcapability R_(tg) shown in Table 1.

To generate an instruction for specifying one or more perceptualtemplates, the instructor can perceive a scene in the robot's workenvironment and provide a user interface that displays the scene inreal-time and allows the user to select one or more points, lines, orplanes in the scene. For example, the instructor can perceive the sceneusing an RGBD sensor, detect candidate features (e.g., a workpiece'svertices, edges, surfaces, etc. in the scene, and display in real-time a3-D visualization of the scene and any candidate features. Theinstructor can select, autonomously or based on user selection, at leastone reference feature from the candidate features. The instructor canalso select template features based on user selection and define eachtemplate feature in the context of the reference feature, such as eachtemplate feature's relative position, angle, orientation, depth, orother attributes with respect to the reference feature. For instance,the instructor can select candidate surface of the workpiece as thereference surface and a user-selected pattern of holes to be drilled asthe template features. The angle of each hole in the pattern can bedefined relative to the reference surface, and the position of each holecan be defined relative to two or more edges of the reference surface.The instructor can store the candidate features, the reference feature,and/or the template features, as well as the relationship between thefeatures in the perceptual templates. The instruction for specifying theperceptual templates generates a formatted information kernel that canbe loaded by any robot capability requiring one or more perceptualtemplates, such as trajectory generator capability R_(tg) shown in Table1.

Collaborative Behaviors

Collaborative behaviors include compositions of one or more robotcapabilities, one or more user interaction capabilities, and mappingsbetween the robot capabilities and the user interaction capabilities.While robot capabilities can be built up and composited for controllingthe robot to perform particular task actions or task actions ofparticular types, the collaborative system relies on collaborativebehaviors to provide the user with interfaces necessary for userinteractions with the collaborative system and/or the robot for anyparticular robot behavior and level of capability. In at least thisaspect, the collaborative system differs from existing robotic systems,which focus solely on the high level user-robot collaborativerelationship but neglect the low level interface elements.

For each robot capability in a composite capability, the collaborativesystem needs explicit information regarding what input is required ofthe user, what feedback should be presented to the user, and thereforewhat user interaction capabilities are required. Suppose a robotcapability R=γ_(R)→ϕ_(R) is composited through the composition operators(e.g., ⊙ and ⊕) from a set of n instantiated or specialized robotcapabilities {R₁(κ₁), . . . , R_(n)(κ_(n))). For robot capability R andthe set of all user interface capabilities available to thecollaborative system, {hacek over (U)}, the compatibility function, Δ:Ř×{hacek over (U)}→{0, 1}, selects an appropriate set of user interfacecapabilities {U: γ_(U)→ϕ_(U)}, with U ∈ {hacek over (U)} that provideseither inputs to R or accepts outputs from R, but not both, because anyfeedback loops are closed through a human operator (e.g., the user):

${\Delta( {R,U} )} = \{ \begin{matrix}{1\text{:}} & {( {\phi_{R} \subseteq \gamma_{U}} )\underset{\_}{⩔}( {\phi_{U} \subseteq \gamma_{R}} )} \\{0\text{:}} & {otherwise}\end{matrix} $

Accordingly, a collaborative behavior B can be defined as a compositionof robot capability R, where all user interaction requirements for thecomposition of robot capability. R are met by a set of user interactioncapabilities {U_(j)|U_(j) ∈ {hacek over (U)}, Δ(R, U_(j))=1}. Robotcapability R can be a base robot capability or a composite robotcapability. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a collaborative behaviorthat includes a composition of capabilities communicatively connected tothe user and the robot. It should be noted that the collaborative systemmanages connections between the capabilities in the collaborativebehavior to control what information is passed to and from the user, butdoes not design nor dictate any particular design for user interfacesassociated with the capabilities. Instead, creators and designers of thecapabilities are free to design user interfaces associated with thecapabilities.

To perform the above-described example task of precisely drilling holescollaboratively with the robot enforcing motion constraints, thecollaborative system can generate and/or modify a composition ofcapabilities and store the composition in a collaborative behavior B₁.For the example task, drill-specialized motion constraint robotcapability R_(mc)(κ_(drill)) requires at least one 6 DOF command fromthe user. The collaborative system can select, based on compatibilityfunction Δ, a force guidance user interaction capability U_(force) thathas the required output matching the 6 DOF command. Therefore,collaborative behavior B₁ can be B₁=U_(force) ⊙ R_(mc)(κ_(drill)). Thecollaborative system can use a similar approach to derive more complexinteraction requirements for other tasks, such as a task of drillingsimilar holes at locations guided manually by the user or the exampletask of repeatedly drilling a pattern of holes on a run of parts in asemi-automated fashion described above with respect to perceptualtemplates.

Exemplary Embodiments

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate exemplary embodiments of the collaborativesystem consistent with the principles of the present disclosure. Invarious embodiments, an example of which is shown in FIG. 3A, thecollaborative system can include a computer 300 that can interact withat least one user (not shown) via at least one UI 310. Computer 300 canbe a general purpose or application-specific computer that is well knownto those skilled in the art, such as a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, amobile device, a robot controller, a server, a cluster, etc., or anycombination thereof. Computer 300 can also be a machine of any suitabletype, such as a virtual machine, a physical machine, etc., or anycombination thereof. Software installed on computer 300 can include acollaborative framework 320 and at least one operating system (“OS”)330.

Collaborative framework 320 is an example implementation of theabove-described generalizable framework that defines and provides modelsfor capabilities, links, and collaborative behaviors. Collaborativeframework 320 can communicate and interact with at least one robot 340and/or the user to learn and/or provide collaborative/assistivefunctionalities associated with the collaborative behaviors. Forexample, the user can teach one or more motions associated with acollaborative/assistive functionality to collaborative framework 320 viauser demonstration by directing robot 340 through the motions.Collaborative framework 320 can use UI 310 to communicate and interactwith the user, and can provide UI 310 via one or more components orperipherals of computer 300, such as a visual display, a pointing deviceor controller, a keyboard/keypad, an electroacoustic transducer, akinetic or tangible user interface, etc., or any combination thereof. Apointing device or controller can include, for example, a mouse, a 3-Dpointing device, a touchscreen, a touchpad, a joystick, a teach pendant,and the like. Collaborative framework 320 can also provide UI 310 viaone or more components of robot 340, such as a sensor, an actuator,etc., or any combination thereof. A sensor can include, for example, aforce sensor, a position sensor, a visual sensor, a tactile sensor, andthe like. One skilled in the art will recognize that UI 310 can beprovided using other components and peripherals without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Collaborative framework 320 can be supported by and/or built on top ofOS 330. OS 330 can be any commercial, open-source, or proprietaryoperating system or platform, such as the ROBOT OPERATING SYSTEM(“ROS”), which can function as a middleware for component-basedcomposition of software functionality and network and processmanagement. Other well-known examples of operating systems that areconsistent with the principles of the present disclosure include LINUX,UNIX, ORACLE SOLARIS, MICROSOFT WINDOWS, MAC OS, OPEN VMS, and IBM AIX.

Although FIG. 3A depicts collaborative framework 320 as providing UI 310and being communicatively coupled to robot 340 via direct communicationslinks, those skilled in the art will appreciate that collaborativeframework 320 can provide UI 310 and/or be communicatively coupled torobot 340 via any suitable type of communication link, such as a networkconnection through at least one communication network like a local areanetwork, a wide area network, an intranet, the Internet, etc. Thoseskilled in the art will also appreciate that the single-computerconfiguration and the arrangement of various parts of the collaborativesystem depicted in FIG. 3A are merely representative and that otherconfigurations and arrangements, an example of which is illustrated inFIG. 3B and described in greater detail below, are possible withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, collaborative framework 320 includes abehavior manager 322 that manages collaborative behaviors, robotcapabilities, and links between robot capability interfaces (e.g.,inputs γ and outputs ϕ), as well as a UI manager 324 that manages userinteraction capabilities. With behavior manager 322 and UI manager 324running as separate and distinct modules or processes, collaborativeframework 320 can manage the collaborative behaviors, the robotcapabilities, and the links separately and distinctly from the userinteraction capabilities to maintain consistency with the conceptualdefinition of collaborative behaviors. The explicit separation of robotand user interaction capabilities allows behavior manager 322 and UImanager 324 to run on separate machines, whether physical or virtual, aslong as the machines are communicatively coupled (e.g., networked) toeach other. Moreover, collaborative framework 320 can include multipleinstances of UI manager 324 running on one or more machines, an exampleof which is illustrated in FIG. 3B and described in greater detailbelow. Collaborative framework 320 can also include multiple instancesof behavior manager 322 running on one or more machines (not shown) in adistributed manner.

Managing Robot Capabilities and Links

In various embodiments, collaborative framework 320 can invoke behaviormanager 322 to compose (e.g., author, modify, store, delete, etc.) robotcapabilities as well as manage (e.g., load, initialize, run, stop,terminate, unload, etc.) and dynamically adapt (e.g., specialize,generalize, re-specialize, etc.) RC elements at various states,including during runtime. Collaborative framework 320 can author robotcapabilities in one or more programming languages such as C++, PYTHON,etc., and can implement robot capabilities as software elements that canbe composed into composite elements. Robot capabilities can extend or bebased on ROS nodes, which provide a communication layer and interfacesfor typed connections between the software elements, e.g., instances ofthe robot capabilities. Collaborative framework 320 can implement linksbetween inputs and outputs of robot capabilities as link elements in theform of published and subscribed ROS topics.

Collaborative framework 320 can provide instances of the robotcapabilities as RC elements by calling ROS launch files associated withthe robot capabilities. RC elements that have been provided bycollaborative framework 320 can be in one or more of several states,including uninstantiated or general, instantiated or specialized,running, waiting, stopped, and the like. A general RC element containscode to read from and write to its interfaces (i.e., capability inputsand outputs) as well as code for performing task action of the desiredtype, but contains an uninstantiated info class that accepts aninformation kernel required for the RC element to function.Collaborative framework 320 can implement an information kernel as aspecifically formatted data file that is loaded into memory at runtimeand used to instantiate the info class and thus specialize the RCelement. Collaborative framework 320 can include at least one instructorthat generates information kernels and stores the information kernels ina database that is accessible to all capability elements.

Collaborative framework 320 can provide a specialized RC element basedon a robot capability by specifying the robot capability and therequired information kernel in the element launch file. Collaborativeframework 320 can re-specialize an already-specialized RC element atruntime, by swapping out the specialized RC element's information kernelfor a different information kernel. Using motion constraint capabilityR_(mc) shown in Table 1 as an example, collaborative framework 320 canswap out an information kernel containing parameters associated with atool for another information kernel containing parameters associatedwith a different tool, without having to unload motion constraintcapability R_(mc). For instance, collaborative framework 320 can swapout an information kernel κ_(drill) of a specialized motion constraintcapability R_(mc)(κ_(drill)) for an information kernel κ_(sander) toform a newly-specialized motion constraint capabilityR_(mc)(κ_(sander)), without having to unload R_(mc).

Managing User Interaction Capabilities

In various embodiments, collaborative framework 320 can invoke UImanager 324 to author, modify, load, unload, store, and switch betweenuser interaction capabilities at various states, including duringruntime. Collaborative framework 320 can implement user interactioncapabilities as software elements that can be composed into compositeelements. Like RC elements, IC elements can extend or be based on ROSnodes, and thus sharing a common communication layer and interfaces withRC elements. Collaborative framework 320 utilizes IC elements to providethe user with one or more interaction paradigms, which can take the formof drivers or other forms of software interface with a peripheral suchas a 2-D or 3-D display, touchscreen, etc. For instance, an admittancecontrol interaction element that allows the user to manipulate a 6 DOFjoystick attached to the robot can provide a mapping between the user'smotions as input γ and the commanded pose output as output ϕ of theadmittance control interaction element.

Managing Collaborative Behaviors

To implement collaborative behaviors, collaborative framework 320provides tools for composing a composition of robot capabilities for acollaborative behavior, deriving user interface requirements of therobot capabilities in the composition, and mapping user interactioncapabilities to the robot capabilities in the composition based on thederived user interface requirements. Collaborative framework 320 cancompose the composition by specifying links between the robotcapabilities in the composition. In various embodiments, collaborativeframework 320 can build the composition by populating a behaviormanifest, which can be a file formatted according a data specificationor serialization format based on the YAML standard, JavaScript ObjectNotation, etc. Each behavior manifest can encapsulate one or more robotcapabilities, user interaction capabilities, and links for acollaborative behavior into tags, under which capabilities and linksrequired for the collaborative behavior are listed. Various capabilitiescan be specified in one or more launch files (e.g., ROS launch files)and/or files containing behavior manifests, and links can be specifiedbased on one or more published and subscribed topics (e.g., ROSpublished and subscribed topics). For example, collaborative framework320 can process one or more launch files that specify availablecapabilities, and can process one or more files containing a behaviormanifest that encapsulates robot capabilities, user interactioncapabilities, and links required by the collaborative behavior.

A behavior manifest 400 as shown in FIG. 4 is an example of a behaviormanifest that specifies robot capabilities, user interactioncapabilities, and links required by an admittance control collaborativebehavior. Behavior manifest 400, which can be specified in the YAMLwiring format, gives at least one user admittance control of at leastone robot, with the option to constrain the robot's motion based on thetool currently being used and/or the workpiece currently being workedon. Behavior manifest 400 can include a behavior name 410 as a top-levelkey and behavior tags 420 a-c as lower-level keys for lists 425 a-c ofrequired capabilities or links. List 425 a can list a set of requiredrobot capabilities, list 425 b can list a set of required userinteraction capabilities, and list 425 c can list a set of requiredlinks. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the format andcontent of behavior manifest 400 are merely representative and thatother formats and contents are possible without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure.

During startup, collaborative framework 320 can instruct behaviormanager 322 to build a list of available robot capabilities, forexample, by parsing the local file system for any launch file with aprefix associated with collaborative framework 320, and can also locateand read any file containing behavior manifests. Behavior manager 322can load, engage, disengage, unload, and switch between collaborativebehaviors while in various states, including during runtime or while atleast one collaborative behavior is engaged. UI manager 324 and/oranother module of collaborative framework 320 can define and provide oneor more administrative UIs through which the user can perform variousadministrative functions.

Administrative functions can include viewing a list of variouscapabilities (e.g., robot capabilities and/or user interactioncapabilities that are available to the user but not loaded, loaded,uninstantiated or general, instantiated or specialized, running,waiting, stopped, etc.), creating a new capability, selecting anexisting capability for collaborative framework 320 to load, instantiateor specialize, uninstantiate or generalize, re-instantiate orre-specialize, unload, swap out, detail, modify, delete, etc., and otherfunctions that can be performed in the same manner for differentcapabilities. Administrative functions can also include viewing a listof various collaborative behaviors (e.g., collaborative behaviors thatare available to the user, loaded, engaged, etc.), creating a newcollaborative behavior, selecting an existing collaborative behavior forcollaborative framework 320 to load, engage, disengage, unload, swapout, detail, modify, delete, etc., and other functions that can beperformed in the same manner for different collaborative behaviors. Forexample, the user can use the administrative UIs to browse a list ofavailable collaborative behaviors and select a collaborative behaviorfor collaborative framework 320 to load and/or engage, detail, modify,delete, etc. For another example, the user can use the administrativeUIs to browse for any engaged collaborative behavior and select anyengaged collaborative behavior for collaborative framework 320 todisengage, unload, swap out, detail, modify, etc.

In response to collaborative framework 320 or any module thereinreceiving a command to load a collaborative behavior, behavior manager322 can locate a composition of robot capabilities required by at leastone behavior manifest associated with the collaborative behavior, andlaunch RC elements as separate child processes for the required robotcapabilities. This allows behavior manager 322 to manage and gracefullytransition between the RC elements, for example, by starting, stopping,restarting, terminating, or killing them as necessary; during suchtransitions, behavior manager 322 can halt the robot or instruct andwait for the robot to enter a halted state.

After launching all required RC elements, behavior manager 322 can thenlook to the behavior manifest for all links required by thecollaborative behavior and/or the required RC elements. For each of therequired links, behavior manager 322 can spawn a link element, or anexplicitly generated temporary component containing logic to subscribeto a sending node (e.g., an RC element publishing to a given topic) andpublish to a receiving node (e.g., an RC element subscribed to the giventopic). This abstraction provides several benefits. By using linkelements, each link can be compartmentalized into its own process,rather than having the link logic (publisher and subscriber) spawndirectly in behavior manager 322, thus allowing behavior manager 322 toeasily reorganize links between RC elements at runtime. This abstractionalso allows for useful introspection because the graph-like structure ofconnected capability elements is retained. For example, the user can seeexplicit connections between the RC elements via a visualization tool(e.g., rqt_graph, an ROS graph visualization tool), rather than many RCelements all connected to the central hub of behavior manager 322.

As a result of using a separate process for each running RC elements andlink elements, behavior manager 322 can easily implement and carry outvarious other behavior commands and management activities. In responseto a command to unload a collaborative behavior, behavior manager 322can simply terminate running RC elements and link elements associatedwith the collaborative behavior. In response to a command to switch froma first collaborative behavior that has already been loaded to a secondcollaborative behavior that is being requested but has not been loaded,behavior manager 322 can find intersecting robot capabilities shared bythe first and second collaborative behaviors to load and unload only RCelements and link elements that are not shared by the first and secondcollaborative behaviors.

Behavior manager 322 can add or subtract individual RC elements and makeor break individual links while in various states. For example, afterloading or even engaging the collaborative behavior, behavior manager322 can add one or more new individual RC elements and/or link elementsto the collaborative behavior and can subtract one or more individual RCelements and/or link elements associated with the collaborativebehavior; if the collaborative behavior is in an engaged state, behaviormanager 322 can add or subtract the individual RC elements and/or linkelements while maintaining as much of the functionality of thecollaborative behavior as possible. Requests or commands to behaviormanager 322 can be implemented as services (e.g., ROS services), so theycan be easily connected to a graphical UI or invoked programmatically.

Behavior manager 322 can also dynamically adapt individual RC elementswhile collaborative framework 320 is in various states, including duringruntime. For example, after loading an RC element, behavior manager 322can instantiate or specialize the RC element with an information kernelthat has been defined through one or more instructions. Behavior manager322 can uninstantiate or generalize a specialized RC element bydecoupling the existing information kernel from the RC element. Behaviormanager 322 can also re-instantiate or re-specialize a specialized RCelement by swapping out the existing information kernel with a newinformation kernel.

As described above, collaborative framework 320 can manage the ICelements associated with collaborative behaviors separately anddistinctly from the RC elements and link elements. To satisfy UIrequirements for collaborative behaviors, UI manager 324 ofcollaborative framework 320 can provide a set of IC elements based onavailable user interaction capabilities. UI manager 324 can launch ICelements as separate processes, similar to the way that behavior manager322 launches the RC elements, and thus providing similar functionalityand benefits as discussed above to UI manager 324 when managing andtransitioning between running IC elements. Moreover, the IC elements arelaunched as separate processes from the RC elements and the linkelements. However, UI manager 324 does not define explicit links betweenrunning IC elements. Instead, UI manager 324 can utilize theabove-described notion of Δ (i.e., the compatibility function) todetermine the appropriateness of a IC element for a specific RC element.In various embodiments, the compatibility function associated with acollaborative behavior can specify that certain IC elements are requiredfor that collaborative behavior when loaded by collaborative framework320, either by the collaborative behavior itself (e.g., in the behaviormanifest) or by at least one specific robot capability (e.g., in thelaunch file) in the collaborative behavior. FIG. 5 depicts an example ofa UI 500 populated with tool behavior UI elements 510 provided byelements that let the user select and/or apply a tool behaviorconstraint associated with a sander, and UI 500 is described in greaterdetail below with respect to an example process.

In various embodiments, collaborative framework 320 can create acollaborative behavior by satisfying, as per compatibility function Δ,all user interaction requirements of robot capabilities in thecollaborative behavior's composition of robot capabilities. Afterloading each robot capability in the composition as an RC element,collaborative framework 320 can determine user interaction capabilitiesrequired by the robot capability based on requirements listed in alaunch file for the robot capability. The robot capability'srequirements can list one or more explicitly required user interactioncapabilities and/or a list of one or more abstract interfacerequirements. For instance, a tool motion constraint capability canrequire a specific user interaction capability for Cartesian controlwith a joystick. The tool motion constraint capability can also providea list of one or more abstract interface requirements, such as textfields, buttons, and toggles. Collaborative framework 320 can parse thelist of abstract interface requirements and determine which userinteraction capabilities match the abstract interface requirements.Then, collaborative framework 320 can locate and load the required ICelements and connect each IC element to one or more RC elements thatrequire the IC element or a user interface provided by the IC element.

In response to collaborative framework 320 or any module thereinreceiving a command to load a collaborative behavior, UI manager 324 canautomatically load all IC elements listed as UI requirements in abehavior manifest associated with the collaborative behavior.Additionally, if and when collaborative framework 320 loads one or moreneedy RC elements that have specific UI requirements beyond those of thecollaborative behavior as a whole, the needy RC elements can broadcasttheir UI requirements over a shared memory space for data (e.g., a ROSparameter server) during the loading process. In response to thebroadcast UI requirements, UI manager 324 can load IC elements requiredby the needy RC elements. Subsequent to loading IC elements required bythe collaborative behavior and/or any needy RC element, UI manager 324can call on the loaded IC element to provide one or more UI elementsappropriate for the UI requirements and make any necessary connections.To ensure that the UIs provide the necessary interaction modalities tothe user for the collaborative behavior, the collaborative behavior'sauthor or designer must explicitly specify at least a minimal set of UIrequirements for the collaborative behavior.

In various embodiments, an example of which is shown in FIG. 3B, thecollaborative system can include a distributed collaborative framework350 having modules running on a group of separate computers (not shown).The group of computers can include multiple general purpose orapplication-specific computers, examples of which include aclient-server network, a peer-to-peer network, a computer cluster, agrid, a cloud, etc., or any combination thereof. The computers can bemachines of any type (e.g., physical, virtual, etc.) that arecommunicatively coupled via at least one network 360, which can includeone or more communication networks of any suitable type, such as a localarea network, a wide area network, an intranet, the Internet, etc. Forexample, the group of computers can include separate machines networkedover ROS. Each computer in the group can be communicatively coupled(e.g., networked) to at least one other computer in the group. Softwareinstalled on the group of computers can include the modules ofdistributed collaborative framework 350 and multiple instances of one ormore operating systems (not shown). The modules of distributedcollaborative framework 350 can be supported by and/or built on top ofthe operating systems, which can be any commercial, open-source, orproprietary operating system or platform, such as ROS or other suitableoperating systems.

The modules of distributed collaborative framework 350 can include abehavior manager 352 that manages the RC elements and link elements andone or more instances 354 of UI manager that manage the IC elements.Distributed collaborative framework 350 can use one or more UIs 370 tocommunicate and interact with one or more users by providing UIs 370 viaone or more components or peripherals of the computers and/or one ormore components of robots 380. One skilled in the art will recognizethat UIs 370 can be provided via other components and peripheralswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.Distributed collaborative framework 350 can communicate and interactwith one or more robots 380 and/or the users via network 360 to learnand/or provide collaborative/assistive functionalities associated withthe collaborative behaviors.

With the explicit separation of the RC elements and IC elements incollaborative framework 350, behavior manager 352 and at least oneinstance of UI manager instances 354 can run on separate computers. Suchconfiguration flexibility can be useful in scenarios where distributedcollaborative framework 350 requires one or more power-hungry logicalmodules to manage the logical components and links but has lightweightUI front ends. To optimize performance in these scenarios, distributedcollaborative framework 350 can run behavior manager 352 on a powerful,remote computer or computer cluster (not shown) and run one or moredistributed instances of UI manager instances 354 on one or moreless-powerful local computers (not shown), such as desktops, laptops,tablets, mobile devices, robot controllers, and the like.

Furthermore, UI manager instances 354 can customize one or more displayparameters and other characteristics of elements in UIs 370 based on thetype and nature of components or peripherals (e.g., displays) connectedto the local computers. For example, UI elements of one of UIs 370 beingdisplayed on a small touchscreen tablet can be more compact with largerbuttons tailored for touch interaction. For another example, UI elementsof one of UIs 370 being displayed via a virtual reality device caninclude immersive UI elements. The configuration flexibility ofdistributed collaborative framework 350, which allows for UI managerinstances 354 to be distributed across separate computers and UIelements in UIs 370 to be customized, enables domain-specificinteraction where UIs 370 can be automatically configured based on thehardware platforms through which distributed collaborative framework 350interacts with the users.

Exemplary embodiments of the collaborative system, such as thosedescribed herein and illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, are intended topresent concepts in a concrete fashion and are described in sufficientdetail to enable those skilled in the art to practice these embodiments.However, other embodiments can be utilized and changes can be madewithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a process 600 performed by a generalizableframework that supports the creation, dynamic adaptation, and managementof reusable capability representations and the creation, reuse, andmanagement of human-machine collaborative behaviors, according toembodiments of the present disclosure. Process 600 can be performed by acollaborative framework, such as collaborative framework 320 as shown inFIG. 3A or distributed collaborative framework 350 as shown in FIG. 3B.Process 600 can begin by launching or providing the collaborativeframework, or process 600 can begin during or after the collaborativeframework's launch.

At block 602, the collaborative framework can provide modules, includingat least one instance of a behavior manager (e.g., behavior manager 322,352) and at least one instance of a UI manager (e.g., UI manager 324,354). Instances of the behavior manager and the UI manager can each belaunched and executed as a separate process, and thus can run ondifferent computers or machines. During and/or after initiation, thecollaborative framework can instruct the behavior manager and/or the UImanager to build one or more lists of available capabilities and/orcollaborative behaviors. The lists can include one or more lists ofrobot capabilities (e.g., general robot capabilities, specialized robotcapabilities, etc.), user interaction capabilities, links, RC elements(i.e., instances of one or more robot capabilities), IC elements (i.e.,instances of one or more user interaction capabilities), link elements(i.e., instances of one or more links), information kernels,collaborative behaviors, and the like. The collaborative framework canbuild the lists of available capabilities or collaborative behaviors byparsing the local file system for any launch file with a prefixassociated with the collaborative framework, and can also locate andread any file containing behavior manifests (e.g., behavior manifest400).

Next, at block 604, the collaborative framework can receive input toengage or compose a collaborative behavior. The collaborative frameworkcan receive a command to create a new collaborative behavior or selectan existing collaborative behavior to engage and/or modify via one ormore UI elements, via a command shell, programmatically, or the like. Ifthe collaborative framework receives input to engage an existingcollaborative behavior, then the collaborative framework can proceed toblock 612. Alternatively, at decision block 610, if the collaborativeframework receives input to compose a collaborative behavior, such ascreate a new collaborative behavior or modify an existing collaborativebehavior, then the collaborative framework can perform processing 900,which is described in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 9.

At block 612, the collaborative framework can select a collaborativebehavior for interacting with at least one user and controlling a robotto collaboratively perform a task. The collaborative framework candynamically adapt the collaborative behavior's capabilities to controlthe robot to collaboratively perform, with the user, a specific task ora task in a specific task class. The task can require one or more taskactions to complete, and the collaborative framework can engage one ormore collaborative behaviors to perform the task actions. If thecollaborative behavior is not loaded in a working memory, at block 614the collaborative framework can obtain and parse a specification (e.g.,behavior manifest 400) of the collaborative behavior that specifies thecollaborative behavior's composition of capabilities.

Next, at block 616, the collaborative framework can provide a set ofcapability elements, which are instances of one or more capabilities,based on the collaborative behavior's capability composition. The set ofcapability elements includes one or more RC elements and one or more ICelements. In various embodiments, the collaborative framework canprovide the set of capability elements by performing processing 700 asshown in FIG. 7 and described in greater detail below. Then, at block618, the collaborative framework can provide a set of link elements,which are instances of one or more links between the one or morecapabilities, and connect the set of capability elements using the setof link elements. In various embodiments, the collaborative frameworkcan provide the set of link elements and connect the set of capabilityelements by performing processing 800 as shown in FIG. 8 and describedin greater detail below.

At block 620, the collaborative framework can engage the collaborativebehavior by executing the set of capability elements to interact withthe user and control the robot to perform the task. The collaborativeframework can instruct the behavior manager to execute the RC elementsand use one or more of the RC elements to control one or morefunctionalities of the robot to perform, with a tool attached to therobot, one or more task actions for completing the task. Thecollaborative framework can also instruct the UI manager to execute oneor more IC elements to provide one or more UIs through which the usercan interact with the robot and/or the collaborative framework. Thecollaborative framework can disengage the engaged collaborative behaviorand/or stop running capability elements at any time. For example, theengaged collaborative behavior and/or any of the running RC elements canbe disengaged or stopped in response to a command or input from the userto disengage the collaborative behavior or stop any running RC element,the completion of the task or the task actions, an error or safetyalarm, and the like. The collaborative framework can also disengage thecollaborative behavior when adding or subtracting individual capabilityelements and/or link elements to make or break links between thecapability elements.

Subsequent to completing the task or task actions or disengaging thecollaborative behavior, at decision block 630 the collaborativeframework can decide whether or not to perform a new task or taskaction. If the collaborative framework decides to perform a new task,then process 600 can proceed to decision block 640, at which thecollaborative framework can decide whether or not to reuse thecollaborative behavior and/or one or more capability elements in the setof capability elements. For example, the collaborative framework candetermine whether or not the collaborative behavior is suitable forcollaboratively performing the new task with the user. If thecollaborative framework decides to reuse the collaborative behaviorand/or some or all capability elements in the set of capabilityelements, then the collaborative framework can prepare the collaborativebehavior and/or the set of capability elements for transition to the newtask prior to process 600 jumping to block 620. For example, based onthe requirements of the new task, the collaborative framework canprepare the set of capability elements for transition by generalizing orre-specializing any of the RC elements, re-mapping links between any ofthe capability elements, and/or terminate and unload any of thecapability and link elements.

If at decision block 640 the collaborative framework decides to notreuse the collaborative behavior, then process 600 can proceed to block642. At block 642, the collaborative framework can disengage and unloadthe collaborative behavior and/or terminate and unload some or all ofthe capability and link elements, prior to process 600 jumping todecision block 610 to engage or compose another collaborative behaviorto perform the new task. The collaborative framework can unload thecollaborative behavior by terminating and unloading the capability andlink elements instantiated for the collaborative behavior, etc. However,in case a succeeding collaborative behavior for the new task can utilizeone or more of the capability and/or link elements, the collaborativeframework can keep some or all of the capability and/or link elements inthe working memory, and can re-specialize some or all of the RCelements. On the other hand, if the collaborative framework does notidentify any capability or link elements that a succeeding collaborativebehavior can reuse, then the collaborative framework can unload thecollaborative behavior and terminate and unload all capability and linkelements associated with the collaborative behavior before jumping todecision block 610 to engage or compose another collaborative behavior.

Alternatively, if at decision block 630 the collaborative frameworkdecides to not perform another task, then at block 652 the collaborativeframework can disengage and unload the collaborative behavior, terminateand unload all capability and link elements associated with thecollaborative behavior, terminate and unload the behavior manager and UImanager, and/or terminate and unload the collaborative framework.Finally, subsequent to block 652, process 600 ends.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flow diagrams of a process 700 and a process 800performed by the generalizable framework to provide and dynamicallyadapt reusable capability representations based on human-machinecollaborative behaviors, according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the collaborative framework can perform process700 while or subsequent to obtaining and parsing the currentcollaborative behavior's capability composition at block 614 (as shownin FIG. 6). In process 700, the collaborative framework can call thebehavior manager to provide RC elements based on one or more robotcapabilities specified by the capability composition. The collaborativeframework can also call at least one instance of the UI manager to loadand run IC elements based on one or more user interaction capabilitiesspecified by the capability composition and/or requested by individualrobot capabilities in the capability composition. The collaborativeframework can provide each RC element and each IC element as a separateinstance or process.

At block 702, the collaborative framework can parse the capabilitycomposition and select a capability specified in the capabilitycomposition. The collaborative framework can also identify any needyrobot capability that has at least one abstract interface requirementnot satisfied by the user interaction capabilities specified in thecapability composition, and the behavior manager can broadcast theadditional UI requirements over a shared memory space. In response, theUI manager can select at least one user interaction capability tosatisfy the additional UI requirements. The UI manager can select anappropriate user interaction capability by performing a compatibilityfunction on the needy robot capability. Then, at block 704, thecollaborative framework can determine a type of the selected capability,e.g., a robot capability or a user interaction capability.

At decision block 710, if the selected capability is determined to be arobot capability, then process 700 can proceed to block 712, duringwhich the collaborative framework can provide an instance of the robotcapability as an RC element. The collaborative framework can provide theRC element based on one or more general robot capabilities that areappropriate for performing the task actions based on one or more taskaction types associated with the task actions to be performed using thecollaborative behavior. For example, the collaborative framework canprovide the RC element by instructing the behavior manager to call alaunch file associated with the robot capability and create the RCelement. Examples of general robot capabilities include motionconstraint, motion instant replay, trajectory generation, and the like.If an instance of the robot capability is available and already loadedin memory, for example, to perform a prior task and/or as required by apreviously-loaded collaborative behavior, then the collaborativeframework can simply adapt the already-loaded RC element instead ofcreating a new RC element.

Next, at block 714, the collaborative framework can provide at least oneinformation kernel with which to instantiate or specialize the RCelement. The information kernel encapsulates a set of one or moretask-related parameters required by the RC element, and types ofparameter that can be encapsulated in the information kernel include,for example, a tool behavior constraint, a TMP, a perceptual template,and the like. The collaborative framework can identify the informationkernel based on the capability composition and/or the set of parametersrequired by the RC element. Then, at block 716, the collaborativeframework can specialize the RC element with the information kernel. Ifthe RC element is already specialized with a different informationkernel, then the collaborative framework can re-specialize the RCelement, for example, by generalizing the RC element (e.g., decouplingthe RC element from the different information kernel) and thenspecializing the RC element with the information kernel. Subsequent toblock 716, process 700 can proceed to decision block 720.

Alternatively, if at decision block 710 the selected capability isdetermined to be a user interaction capability, then process 700 canproceed to block 718, during which the collaborative framework canprovide an instance of the user interaction capability as an IC element.For example, the collaborative framework can provide the IC element byinstructing the UI manager to call a launch file associated with theuser interaction capability and create the IC element. The UI managercan also determine the characteristics of a user interface (e.g.,display, user input device, etc.) through which the IC element willinteract with the user, and then customize the IC element based on thosecharacteristics. If an instance of the user interaction capability isavailable and already loaded in memory, for example, to perform a priortask and/or as required by a previously-loaded collaborative behavior,then the collaborative framework can simply adapt the already-loaded ICelement instead of creating a new IC element. Subsequent to block 718,process 700 can proceed to decision block 720.

At decision block 720, the collaborative framework can determine, basedon the capability composition and/or abstract interface requirements ofany needy robot capability, whether or not to provide more instances ofcapabilities. If yes, then process 700 can jump to block 702.Alternatively, if no, then the collaborative framework can terminateprocess 700 and jump to block 618 (as shown in FIG. 6).

Referring now to FIG. 8, the collaborative framework can perform process800 subsequent to providing the RC elements associated with the robotcapabilities specified in the capability composition. In process 800,the collaborative framework can call the behavior manager to providelink elements based on links and mappings specified by the collaborativebehavior's capability composition and can provide each link element as aseparate instance or process.

At block 802, the collaborative framework can parse the capabilitycomposition for one or more links or connections between thecapabilities, such as links between the robot capabilities and mappingsbetween robot capabilities and user interaction capabilities. Next, atblock 804, the collaborative framework can provide an instance of thelink or mapping as a link element. Then, at block 806, the collaborativeframework can use the link element to connect the relevant capabilityelements. For example, a link can be formed between a pair of capabilityelements based on a link or mapping specified in the capabilitycomposition. A linked pair of capability elements includes a publishercapability element and a subscriber capability element. Thecollaborative framework can form a link between the linked pair in theform of a topic, in which the publishing capability element publishes tothe topic and the subscribing capability element subscribes to thetopic.

Finally, at decision block 810, the collaborative framework candetermine whether or not to provide more link elements based on anyremaining links and mappings in the capability composition. If yes, thenprocess 800 can jump to block 802. Alternatively, if no, then thecollaborative framework can terminate process 800 and jump to block 620(as shown in FIG. 6).

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method for composinghuman-machine collaborative behaviors, according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The collaborative framework can perform process 900subsequent to receiving input to compose a collaborative behavior atblock 610 (as shown in FIG. 6). At block 902, the collaborativeframework can provide a composer, for example, by instructing thebehavior manager and/or the UI manager to provide the composer.

At block 904, the collaborative framework can instruct the composer toprovide a capability composition for the collaborative behavior. If thecollaborative behavior is new or does not include a capabilitycomposition, then the composer can create a capability composition.Alternatively, if the collaborative behavior includes a capabilitycomposition, then the composer can load the capability composition.Next, at block 906, the composer can provide lists of behaviorcomponents including available robot capabilities, user interactioncapabilities, information kernels, composition operators, and the like.The composer can build the lists of available behavior components byparsing the local file system for any configuration files and/or launchfiles with a prefix associated with the collaborative framework.

At block 908, the composer can receive input from the user to add,modify, or remove behavior components in the capability composition, forexample, via one or more UI elements or a command shell,programmatically, or the like. Then, at decision block 920, the composercan determine whether to add or modify/remove one or more behaviorcomponents.

If at decision block 920 the composer determines that the user wants toadd one or more behavior components to the capability composition, thenprocess 900 can proceed to block 922, at which the composer can select acapability. The composer can select a capability in response to theuser's selection from the list of capabilities, command line, and thelike. Next, at block 924, the composer can determine whether or not theselected capability is a robot capability. If yes, then the composer canprompt the user to select an information kernel with which toinstantiate or specialize the robot capability. Then, at block 926, thecomposer can select a composition operator associated with the selectedcapability and/or an operand (e.g., another capability) with which tocomposite the selected capability. The composer can add the selectedcapability and optionally the selected operator and/or operand in thecapability composition. Subsequent to block 926, process 900 can proceedto decision block 940.

Alternatively, if at decision block 920 the composer determines that theuser wants to modify or remove one or more behavior components from thecapability composition, then process 900 can proceed to block 932, atwhich the composer can provide the capability composition to the userand receive user input to select at least one behavior component in thecapability composition. Then, at block 934, the composer can modify theselected behavior component or remove the selected behavior componentfrom the capability composition. Subsequent to block 934, process 900can proceed to decision block 940.

At decision block 940, the composer can determine whether or not tocontinue composing the capability composition. The composer can makethat determination based on user input. The composer can also determinewhether or not all user interaction requirements of robot capabilitiesin the capability composition are satisfied, as per compatibilityfunction, by the user interaction capabilities in the capabilitycomposition. If the composer decides to continue, then process 900 canjump to block 906. Alternatively, if the composer decides to notcontinue, then process 900 can proceed to block 942.

At block 942, the composer can provide one or more links and mappingsbetween the capabilities in the capability composition. The composer canparse the capability composition and provide or derive the links andmappings based on one or more composition operators in the capabilitycomposition, abstract interface requirements of the robot capabilities,user input, and the like. Finally, at block 944, the composer can storethe capability composition in a behavior manifest associated with thecollaborative behavior. The behavior manifest, an example of which isshown in FIG. 4, can encapsulate one or more robot capabilities, userinteraction capabilities, and links/mappings for the collaborativebehavior into tags, under which capabilities and links/mappings requiredfor the collaborative behavior are listed. Finally, subsequent to block944, the collaborative framework can terminate process 900 and jump toblock 610 (as shown in FIG. 6).

Example Process

The collaborative framework can create or load a collaborative behaviorto collaboratively perform a sanding task with the user. After creatingor loading the collaborative behavior and loading at least one generalrobot capabilities specified in the collaborative behavior, thecollaborative framework can identify that a sander is attached to therobot and instantiate the general robot capability with at least oneinformation kernel that encapsulates parameters associated with asander. The collaborative framework can then load a tool behaviorinteraction capability based on a UI requirement of the instantiatedrobot capability, and provide a tool behavior UI element that lets theuser select and/or apply a tool behavior constraint associated with thesander, if not already loaded. For example, the tool behaviorinteraction capability may not be a capability required by thecollaborative behavior. The collaborative framework can then run thetool behavior interaction capability to provide tool behavior UIelements 510 (as shown in FIG. 5) that allows the user to select andenforce one or more behavior constraints specified in the tool behaviorconstraint, and then constrain the robot's motion based on the enforcedbehavior constraints. For example, the collaborative framework canenforce or apply a behavior constraint to constrain the motion of theattached sander to only within the plane of its sanding pad.

The collaborative framework can similarly identify and load, ifnecessary, a workpiece interaction capability that lets the user selectand/or apply a perceptual template, and then run the workpieceinteraction capability to provide at one or more workpiece UI elements520, which can include a 3-D rendering of detected planes of a workpieceand an input point cloud for the user to select one or more targetlocations on the workpiece. Workpiece UI elements 520 can further allowthe user to toggle a “snap to selected surface” perceptual template forteleoperation, which can constrain the orientation of the attachedsander to the normal of the selected plane or surface. The collaborativeframework can incorporate workpiece UI elements 520 that lets the userselect the tool behavior and perceptual templates into a largertool-constrained teleoperation behavior, which the collaborativeframework can enforce while the user admittance-guides the robot.

The collaborative framework can provide a TMP recording element 530 thatrecord or learn one or more user-demonstrated motions associated with aTMP required by the collaborative behavior to perform the sanding task.The collaborative framework can also create a TMP implementation UIelement (not shown) for selecting points on the workpiece's plane orsurface to instantiate a saved TMP at the selected points. Afterreceiving user selection of the desired workpiece plane in the 3-D view,which specifies a planar perceptual template, the collaborativeframework can warp the current 2-D color image to show an orthogonaltop-down view of the planar region. The user can then select a set ofpoints in the image and the robot can engage the collaborative behaviorto autonomously execute the motion encapsulated in the TMP at each ofthe points for a number of times specified via UI elements 540. This canbe used in a larger behavior called TMP implementation.

FIG. 10 illustrates a computer system 1000 that is consistent withembodiments of the present disclosure. In general, embodiments of ahuman-machine collaborative system (e.g., collaborative framework 320and distributed collaborative framework 350) may be implemented invarious computer systems, such as one or more personal computers,servers, workstations, embedded systems, multifunction devices, or acombination thereof. Certain embodiments of the collaborative systemmodules therein may be embedded as a computer program. The computerprogram may exist in a variety of forms both active and inactive. Forexample, the computer program can exist as software program(s) comprisedof program instructions in source code, object code, executable code orother formats; firmware program(s); or hardware description language(“HDL”) files. Any of the above can be embodied on a computer readablemedium, which include storage devices and signals, in compressed oruncompressed form. However, for purposes of explanation, system 1000 isshown as a general purpose computer that is well known to those skilledin the art. Examples of the components and. peripherals that may beincluded in system 1000 will now be described.

As shown, system 1000 may include at least one processor 1002, akeyboard 1017, a pointing device 1018 (e.g., a mouse, a 3-D pointingdevice, a touchpad, and the like), a display 1016, main memory 1010, aninput/output controller 1015, and a storage device 1014. Storage device1014 can comprise, for example, RAM, ROM, flash memory, EEPROM, CD-ROMor other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or storedesired program code in the form of instructions or data structures andthat can be accessed by a computer. A copy of the computer programembodiment of the printer driver can be stored on, for example, storagedevice 1014. System 1000 may also he provided with additionalinput/output devices, such as a printer (not shown). The variouscomponents of system 1000 communicate through a system bus 1012 orsimilar architecture. In addition, system 1000 may include an operatingsystem (“OS”) 1020 that resides in memory 1010 during operation. Oneskilled in the art will recognize that system 1000 may include multipleprocessors 1002. For example, system 1000 may include multiple copies ofthe same processor. Alternatively, system 1000 may include aheterogeneous mix of various types of processors. For example, system1000 may use one processor as a primary processor and other processorsas co-processors. For another example, system 1000 may include one ormore multi-core processors and one or more single core processors. Thus,system 1000 may include any number of execution cores across a set ofprocessors (e.g., processor 1002). As to keyboard 1017, pointing device1018, and display 1016, these components may be implemented usingcomponents that are well known to those skilled in the art. One skilledin the art will also recognize that other components and peripherals maybe included in system 1000.

Main memory 1010 serves as a primary storage area of system 1000 andholds data that is actively used by applications, such as the printerdriver the barcode printing system, running on processor 1002. Oneskilled in the art will recognize that applications are softwareprograms that each contains a set of computer instructions forinstructing system 1000 to perform a set of specific tasks duringruntime, and that the term “applications” may be used interchangeablywith application software, application programs, device drivers, and/orprograms in accordance with embodiments of the present teachings. Memory1010 may be implemented as a random access memory or other forms ofmemory as described below, which are well known to those skilled in theart.

OS 1020 is an integrated collection of routines and instructions thatare responsible for the direct control and management of hardware insystem 1000 and system operations. Additionally, OS 1020 provides afoundation upon which to run application software and device drivers.For example, OS 1020 may perform services, such as resource allocation,scheduling, input/output control, and memory management. OS 1020 may bepredominantly software, but may also contain partial or completehardware implementations and firmware. Well known examples of operatingsystems that are consistent with the principles of the present teachingsinclude ROBOT OPERATING SYSTEM, LINUX, UNIX, ORACLE SOLARIS, MICROSOFTWINDOWS, MAC OS, OPEN VMS, and IBM AIX.

The foregoing description is illustrative, and variations inconfiguration and implementation may occur to persons skilled in theart. For instance, the various illustrative logics, logical blocks,modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodimentsdisclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purposeprocessor (e.g., processor 1002), an application specific integratedcircuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logicdevice, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components,or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions describedherein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., amicroprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, or any other suchconfiguration.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.For a software implementation, the techniques described herein can beimplemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, subprograms,programs, routines, subroutines, modules, software packages, classes,and so on) that perform the functions described herein. A module can becoupled to another module or a hardware circuit by passing and/orreceiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents.Information, arguments, parameters, data, or the like can be passed,forwarded, or transmitted using any suitable means including memorysharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, and thelike. The software codes can be stored in memory units and executed byprocessors. The memory unit can be implemented within the processor orexternal to the processor, in which case it can be communicativelycoupled to the processor via various means as is known in the art.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over a computer-readable medium as one or more instructionsor code. Computer-readable media includes both tangible, non-transitorycomputer storage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available tangible, non-transitory media thatcan be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation,such tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media can comprise RAM,RUM, flash memory, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in theform of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by acomputer. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes CD, laser disc,optical disc, DVD, floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usuallyreproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically withlasers. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

Resources described as singular or integrated can in one embodiment beplural or distributed, and resources described as multiple ordistributed can in embodiments be combined. The scope of the presentteachings is accordingly intended to be limited only by the followingclaims. Although the invention has been described with respect tospecific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize thatnumerous modifications are possible. For instance, the proxy servers canhave additional functionalities not mentioned herein. In addition,embodiments of the present disclosure can be realized using anycombination of dedicated components and/or programmable processorsand/or other programmable devices. While the embodiments described abovecan make reference to specific hardware and software components, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that different combinations ofhardware and/or software components can also be used and that particularoperations described as being implemented in hardware might also beimplemented in software or vice versa.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for enhancingcollaboration between a user and a robot using a tool, the methodcomprising: obtaining a robot capability, the robot capability modellingperformance of a tool-related functionality of the robot; obtaining aninformation kernel of a tool operable by the robot, wherein: theinformation kernel provides a tool capability element to the robot thatspecializes the robot capability for the tool, and the informationkernel includes one or more parameters of tool-related task actions;providing a robot capability element based on the information kernel,wherein: the robot capability element is configured to control the atleast one tool-related functionality of the robot based on the one ormore parameters of the tool-related task actions, and the robotcapability element provides one or more user interaction requirements;obtaining one or more user interaction capability elements based on theone or more user interaction requirements, wherein: the tool capabilityelement of the robot is configured to receive a user input from theuser, and the tool capability element of the robot is configured toprovide feedback to the user via the one or more user interactioncapability elements; receiving the user input from the user;controlling, based on the one more parameters of the tool-related taskactions, the at least one tool-related functionality of the robot toperform the one or more tool-related task actions in collaboration withthe user input; generating, by the tool capability element, tool-relatedinformation associated with the one or more tool-related task actions;and providing feedback to the user based on the tool-relatedinformation.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: generating oneor more user interfaces (UIs) using the one or more user interactioncapability elements; receiving the user input via a first UI of the oneor more UIs; and providing the feedback via the first UI.
 3. The methodof claim 2, wherein the feedback includes at least one of: robottool-use information, robot discovered tool parameters, robot toolaction performance information, robot tool-based task information, androbot tool-based action results.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein theuser input includes at least one of: tool physical parameterinformation, tool geometric information, tool mass parameters, toolmotion path information, tool affordance information, tool qualityinformation, and tool status information.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the user input provides a tool behavior constraint for the robotbased on the tool-related parameters.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinthe user input defines a constraint on the motion of the robot inrelation to the tool.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein the user inputincludes tool-based task information related to an environment of therobot.
 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising: receiving a seconduser input specifying a selected robot environment region; andconstraining motion of the robot based on the specified environmentregion.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the selected environmentregion defines an object whose position creates a constraint on themotion of the robot relative to the tool.
 10. The method of claim 2,wherein: the user input comprises a demonstration of motion of the tool;and the method further comprises determining a constrained motion pathfor the robot based on the demonstration of the motion.
 11. The methodof claim 3 further comprising: determine tool parameters of a secondtool that is similar to the tool; and provide a tool behavior constraintfor the second tool based on the tool parameters of the second tool. 12.The method of claim 11, wherein the tool parameters of the second toolconstrain one or more motions of the robot.
 13. The method of claim 2further comprising obtaining tool information defining actuation of thetool.
 14. The method of claim 10 further comprising: determining aconstrained motion path of the tool based on: a predetermineduser-demonstrated motion path, and a scaling factor or other parameterprovided by the user; and controlling the robot to perform theconstrained motion path.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein determiningthe constrained motion path comprises detecting a feature of theconstrained motion using a sensor.
 16. The method of claim 2, whereinproviding the feedback comprises providing information about missingtool information based on a current tool-based robot task.
 17. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising: loading a set of tool-relatedparameters based on task information; and enabling a set of tool-basedrobot capabilities based on the task information.
 18. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the task information is determined by sensor data,specified by the user input.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein loadingthe set of tool-related parameters comprises loading the set oftool-related parameters in response to the robot acquiring the tool. 20.A system for e enhancing collaboration between a user and a robot usinga tool, the system comprising: a processor; and a memory device storingcomputer-executable program instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, control the system to perform operations comprising:obtaining a robot capability, the robot capability modelling performanceof a tool-related functionality of the robot; obtaining an informationkernel of a tool operable by the robot, wherein: the information kernelprovides a tool capability element to the robot that specializes therobot capability for the tool, and the information kernel includes oneor more parameters of tool-related task actions; providing a robotcapability element based on the information kernel, wherein: the robotcapability element is configured to control the at least onetool-related functionality of the robot based on the one or moreparameters of the tool-related task actions, and the robot capabilityelement provides one or more user interaction requirements; obtainingone or more user interaction capability elements based on the one ormore user interaction requirements, wherein: the tool capability elementof the robot is configured to receive user inputs from the user, and thetool capability element of the robot is configured to provide feedbackto the user via the one or more user interaction capability elements;receiving the user inputs from the user; controlling, based on the onemore parameters of the tool-related task actions, the at least onetool-related functionality of the robot to perform the one or moretool-related task actions in collaboration with the user inputs;generating, by the tool capability element, tool-related informationassociated with the one or more tool-related task actions; and providingthe feedback based on the tool-related information.